Nazareth Secures Mountain Valley Playoff Spot Tom Mosser Plays One Of His Best Games Before The Home Crowd.

February 14, 1996|by KEITH GROLLER, The Morning Call

Tom Mosser saved his best for last.

Playing his final home game at Nazareth High School last night, Mosser turned in one of the best of games of his career with 12 points, 12 rebounds and two critical foul shots down the stretch as the Blue Eagles outlasted pesky Northampton 48-45 to secure a Mountain Valley Conference playoff game.

The Nazareth win broke a portion of a three-team deadlock in the MVC's second-half chase. The Eagles (19-5 overall, 5-1 second half) will meet first-half champ Stroudsburg tomorrow night (probably at Pocono Mountain) to settle second-half honors. Should Nazareth win that one, the reward would be a rematch with the Mounties Friday or Saturday.

A meeting will sort out all the playoff details this morning, but for a while last night it looked as though it would be the rapidly improving K-Kids (8-16, 4-2) who would be making the playoff plans.

Northampton, looking nothing like the club that was routed by Nazareth 68-45 Feb. 13, kept both the pace and Nazareth's offense under control. The K-Kids led as late as the 2:30 mark of the third quarter at 26-25.

But the Eagles shook off six of 23 shooting in the first half to take charge late in the third quarter and built a 38-30 lead with 4-1/2 minutes to play in the fourth quarter.

"It was `Senior Night' and the last game in front of the home crowd and we were pumped up ... maybe too pumped up," Mosser said. "We were struggling and we just needed to step up. We've been a second-half team all year. Once we settled down, we played pretty well. Everyone chipped in."

Chris Shelly hit a free throw and then scored off a Robbie Em assist to put Nazareth up 41-34, but the K-Kids refused to step aside. Northampton came all the way back to within 43-42 on a mini hook shot by Barrett Smith with 37 seconds left. Shelly made one of two at the other end and K-Kid sophomore Mike Schneider had a chance to tie it at the other with 29 seconds left.

But Schneider, who gave his team life by scoring nine of its 16 points in the first half on long-range jumpers, missed the front end of a one-and-one.

Senior Jason Calandra made two free throws for Nazareth with 21 seconds to go to make it 46-42. Then after Northampton missed two shots, Mosser finally tucked matters away by hitting two foul shots with 7 seconds left.

Smith, battling the flu bug, capped a 19-point performance with a 3-point shot with a second left. However, Northampton wouldn't get off another shot.

"Northampton was much better this time around," said Mosser, one the team's tri-captains. "They play aggressive, scrappy defense. Smith and Schneider both hit a lot of big shots for them. We just had enough to beat them."

Mosser said he was only a 30-35 percent foul shooter last season.

"I'm up to about 65 percent this season," Mosser said. "The coaches told me I had to work on it and I did. I was 4-for-4 tonight, so I guess that's pretty good. Sometimes, I'm 2-for-2 and then I'll miss the next two. It's all concentration."

Now Nazareth can concentrate on Stroudsburg. The Mounties won the two previous clashes handily -- 54-42 and 66-49.

"We can play with them; we've just got to stay focused," said Nazareth coach Ken Shiffert. "We obviously didn't stay focused tonight. We got caught up in Northampton's kind of game. They're physical and rough and we're all finesse. I can see how they beat Stroudsburg.

"We got the shots we wanted. But we shot 18-for-50 from the field in our own gym. That's horrible. We're going to have to shoot the ball better against Stroudsburg."

Northampton, meanwhile, had its shot at an MVC crown go awry, but still looks capable of pulling a surprise in the District 11 tourney.